Oral contraceptives of various types, particularly in "pill" form are well known and widely used because they have been found to be generally effective in the prevention of conception and it is further known that they can and do present risks of hormonal imbalances coupled with neurological disorders and other disadvantageous side effects. Spermicidal foams, gels and suppositories as well as diaphragms and IUD's are well known for preventing contraception.
Studies to find better and safer intravaginal contraceptives are constantly under investigation including a recently available device comprising a polyurethane disc having a central recess and containing 1,000 milligrams of a spermicide known as nonoxynol-9, chemically definable as nonylphenoxypoly (ethyleneoxy) ethanol. While generally comparable in effectiveness to a conventional diaphragm, the polyurethane disc device has serious drawbacks as set forth in my aforesaid copending application as it is capable of causing irritation and allergic reactions of sensitive tissue and the relatively large content of nonoxynol-9 has been found to be undesirable and even unsafe because it must be combined with water before use which may render the device non-sterile and the polyurethane disc is not reliably shape-stable in the presence of moisture and/or pressure due to its shape and relatively poor absorbent power or retention of substances coming into contact therewith.